


Brooding

by Cookie_Brooke



Series: The Lost Clutch Chronicles [1]
Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Betrayal, Blood and Violence, Curses, Dragon AU, Hermaphrodites, Magic, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Oneshot, Suggestive Themes, Transformation, but it turned into a series, the turtles are eggs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:21:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22410931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cookie_Brooke/pseuds/Cookie_Brooke
Summary: The baron looked down at the great beast snarling at his feet, hackles raised, the glint of pearlescent shells refracting onto the brood-mother's heated abdominal scales like abalone. "...So, it is true, there's not a single monster in all the lands you would not submit to, except perhaps your betrothed..." He sneered, "Filthy mutton monger..."The last drake hissed through his serrated teeth, scales flexing as he guarded his nest, "What of it...? That hag betrayed me! Our supposed vow and bond meant nothing to her, only the legends that ran in my blood could satisfy her craving...but no more... I am done fighting in her senseless game...I'm forging my own destiny for I am her beast no longer!"Smokey trails flitted from his maw, "Finally, I will be alone no longer..."
Series: The Lost Clutch Chronicles [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1612870
Comments: 3
Kudos: 25





	Brooding

Yor...what a land to behold...

The generous and giving earth that thrived on a balance of magic and life.

The motherland gives, giveth, gave...

The motherland takes, taketh, took...

To be happy is to live with what Yor pushed and pulled in one’s lifetime. To celebrate in generosity...and to persevere in calamity. In the times of old, a few within the race of humanity claimed Yor favored the magical races, for they were called by no other name. Magic within their blood had simply always...been.

A curse of endless war tossed the world into a cycle by Yor’s design. A cycle of dying and renewing. When the war came to an end, a mass of cultures formed a collective of orders to preserve the peace that came after for as long as possible until the cycle began again. The clan of Hamato was one such order.

The draconian bloodline was a brilliant and powerful force said to be forged within the belly of Yor, and emblazoned with the grace of the stars as they danced in the sky, their glimmering scales a vast prism of color that painted the atmosphere. The cycle eventually began once again with the rise of a monstrous amalgamation of an ethereal being known as the Muhortah and the hatred contained within the soul of a wicked man. The resulting war was another cycle, taking away both the Hamato clan and the rivaling foot soldiers in their wake, consuming the heads of the clan and the demon. Yor’s gift was the few of each that remained that faded into legend.

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* * *

Hamato Yoshi was the last of the pure-blooded drakes to hatch by the dawn of the rise in human kingdoms. He was of western blood in an eastern brood, barely within the bounds of pure definition, but by this point, tradition had to be shelved for a Hamato to simply exist. Unfortunately for the spirits of the ancestors, by the time he came of age, given the increasing pressures to fulfill his role in the cycle, he wanted nothing to do with it. Yoshi, from birth, had been suffocated in the deepest caves underground when dragon bones and scales became a fad in human medicine, further dwindling the numbers until eventually he was the only one left. His kind were now functionally extinct.

With no one to hold him from the surface, Yoshi, having rebranded himself under the name Lou Jitsu, wandered the lands of Yor, partaking in all the luxuries and pleasures he had missed for decades. The addiction came easy. He yearned for intoxication. He was able to do this when he came to the Fold, an ancient city of magical fauna tucked away behind a wall of illusion. No humans resided here, as the rest of the planet had been colonized by the encroaching royal families and all their farmlands. He was safe to bask in the adoration of thousands of fae fans, tending to his every need.

Lou eventually came upon HER doorstep. She was the one who ran the Fold. She was the one who said he was a crown jewel to be treated and treasured as such. She had given him glory in her arena as he defeated foe after foe and lived for the rush of endorphins that came with it. They indulged in one another, in laughing, luxury, and lusting.  
  


As the years passed however, and the addiction became harder to satisfy, an empty feeling in the pool of Lou Jitsu’s gut festered. He quietly grew bored of all the gold and the plushness of a bed made for him. One day in the arena, she had pressured him into spilling blood on the battleground for the first time. The crowds had grown antsy, she had said. Watching his opponent turn grey and bleed out left him without an appetite for several days.

It was only when she had left him for a month to himself in her palace that he began to meditate and self-reflect, and it was only then that he realized that all of her “love”, all of her lavish treatment, all of his lifestyle had come at a price. Not once since he had moved in with her had he been allowed to leave the Fold. Not once had he been the one to choose his evening events. He woke up every morning to a schedule. Someone was always telling him what he would be doing or partaking in on any given day. It had easily been several years since he had ever made a single choice for himself. When he had tried, she gently steered him away, luring him with his addiction back into her “safe” embrace.

The empty feeling grew with each passing day. A subtle depression and loneliness grew in tandem. He realized he was being suffocated again, and in his distress, he was unsure how to handle these complex emotions he was feeling inside. His mood had attracted the attention of the palace healer’s apprentice. He was a kind soul, perhaps too kind and easily taken advantage of. Gullible enough for even Lou Jitsu to recognize. But he was a new person to meet, and any new council, in the dragon’s mind, was welcome.  
  
It took only a few minutes of talking for Lo Jitsu to get the answer to his problem.  
  
It took only an hour for him to break out of the Fold.

It only took a day for him to find a new place to call home.

It was cold and damp, and in all sense of irony a cave, but a fluttering feeling inside his core made him excited to take it upon himself to make it perfect. He looked out to the fields surrounding his home, watching a young human couple teach their young sprout how to walk amongst the wheat, and he smiled.  
  
If what the apprentice had told him was indeed true…his fur maned tail swayed with a curl, well…there would be plenty of time for him to ponder now…

* * *

  
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* * *

* * *

11 months later…

* * *

* * *

The last dragon paced and panted heavily. His blood was so hot that he had actually begun to sweat. He nervously continued to scrape his crown of horns against the slate walls, repositioning a willow branch for the seventh time. He fluffed up his bed but for Yor’s sake, his claws would not stop fidgeting and his scales would not stop trembling.  
  
This was a stupid idea.

  
No it wasn’t, he was simply being over dramatic.  
  
He knew this was a part of the process going in.

He wasn’t scared.

He shouldn’t be scared.

  
  
He is Yor-damned terrified.

  
  
Calm down, he will be fine.

  
  
Would he be fine?

  
  
Would they be fine?

  
  
Back and forth.  
  
Back and forth.  
  
Back and forth.

  
  
He needed rest.

  
  
He hasn’t slept well in three moons.

  
  
Thank goodness it will be over.

  
  
It hasn’t happened yet.

  
  
It’s going to hurt.  
  


Back and forth.  
  
Back and forth.  
  
Breathe in and breathe out.

  
No, it won’t, it won’t be that bad.

  
  
Yes it will.

  
  
Others have done it before.

  
  
He will do it too.

  
  
He doesn’t have a choice.

Back and forth.

  
  
It’s going to happen whether he wants it or not.  
  
It’s coming, he can feel it.

  
He can’t stop it.

  
Stay calm.

  
  
Back and forth.  
  
Slowing down.

  
  
Breathe in.

  
It’s going to be okay.  
  
It will be worth it.

  
  
Breathe out.

  
  
Lay down.

  
  
Breathe in.

  
  
He’s scared…

  
Breathe out.

  
He’s alone…

  
  
Breathe in.

He won’t be for long.

  
  
Hold it in.

  
  
Focus.

  
Breathe out.

It’s time…

* * *

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* * *

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The first is always the hardest and the scariest, but words could not describe the flurry of thoughts that ran through Lou’s mind when the first one finally came.  
  
It had taken a lot of pressure and strength given its size, and thankfully his inexperience hadn’t caused any problems yet... it was here.

The hole in his core began to fill.

  
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The second came twelve hours later. He was less nervous this time. It was calm, even relatively easy. Slow and easy, and it had taken a lot of patience. He sighed, stretching out to relax and rest…it was here.

\--

The third came 6 minutes later. It was forceful, it was fast, and by Yor, did it fucking hurt. It had scared him out of his security, and left him shaking. The pain had been quick, however, and this one had a beauty unparalleled. A beauty that calmed him…it was here.

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A day and a half passed and he thought he was finished. He had nearly gone out hunting when the fourth one decided to come. This one took the longest, given he hadn’t been prepared, but he hadn’t been scared, more startled than anything. Near the end it had taken a lot of straining, but when it came he understood why.  
  
It was the smallest.  
  
It was also the cutest.  
  
It was here.

  
This time he was confident that it was over. His instincts didn’t say otherwise. The five of them were together…  
  
Safe in the nest and safe with him. Lou Jitsu yawned as the morning sun rose, partaking in some of his backup food stores as he settled down in the moss and soft leaves, and curled up tight around them with a rumbling purr.  
  


It was just him and his four…perfect…little ones.  
  
Just him and his first clutch, and one day it would be him and his first hatchlings…

He was whole again.  
  
Mother Yor had given.

* * *

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* * *

* * *

5 months later…

* * *

* * *

The baron looked down at the great beast snarling at his feet, hackles raised, the glint of pearlescent shells refracting onto the brood-mother's heated abdominal scales like abalone. "...So, it is true, there's not a single monster in all the lands you would not submit to, except perhaps your betrothed..." He sneered, "Filthy mutton monger..."

The last drake hissed through his serrated teeth, scales flexing as he guarded his nest, "What of it...? That hag betrayed me! Our supposed vow and bond meant nothing to her, only the legends that ran in my blood could satisfy her craving...but no more... I am done fighting in her senseless game...I'm forging my own destiny for I am her beast no longer!"

Smokey trails flitted from his maw, "Finally, I will be alone no longer..."

“It doesn’t have to be this way, Lou Jitsu…” Draxum tutted with a shake of his head, “Return to the Fold and I assure you, no harm will come to your young. With the right argument, she will show mercy, and I will find a use for them, even if they were not originally a part of my plans.” The faeries on his shoulders fidgeted with innocent smiles. 

  
“That sounds an awful lot like a threat…” Lou hissed in retort, the furred tip of his long whip-like tail snapping against the cavern’s walls. “What makes you think I’d just hand my freedom…and the freedom of my hatchlings over to you?”

  
“It is time that you faced reality, ultima draco…” The sorcerer took a step forward, to which Lou bared his fangs in warning. “The world is not ready for the return of the wyrms…if you let these abominations run free, the human plague you’ve sacrificed for will slaughter them, just like the rest of your ancestry!” His staff struck the ground in challenge, “When will you realize that we are on the same side?! They will be safest under my protection!”

  
“I cannot imagine a place more dangerous on this earth than within your veil of influence!” The drake rose to his full height, his crown grazing the moist stalactites that hung from the ceiling, “You will not make slaves of my progeny!” 

  
“Master, there is no use trying to convince him.” Huginn barked.

Muninn snickered, “Yeah, he’s much like an overgrown goose, he’s gone egg manic.”

  
“Remove the clutch-, “one quipped.  
  
“-and he should come back to his senses.” The other finished.

Tensing his muscles, heart pounding furiously, Lou Jitsu puffed out his chest and raised his wings in a large halo, “No more of this…I will not ask again, leave us!” He roared out loud, shaking the earth beneath and around them, “LEAVE…OR DIE!!”

  
The fae fluttered around panicked at the display, “S-see, boss, it’s like we said! The great Lou Jitsu, he who banished violence from his nature, has just threatened us with death!” They hid behind his cloak, “He is unwell…very unwell!”  
  


A few moments of silence pass as the two males stared each other down, the dragon’s claws sheering the stone beneath their feet.  
  
An angry brood-mother is dangerous…  
  
An angry brood-mother is also distracted…

  
  
“…Oh, very well...I suppose I can manage getting my hands dirty.” Draxum rolled up his robe’s sleeves nonchalantly, unfazed by the display. A torrent of golden flames erupted from Lou’s gaping jaws, engulfing the trespassers and rendering all of the sand glazing the floor into hot glass. The fae screamed and burrowed into their master’s cloak but the searing heat did not reach them, for it was redirected and absorbed into the tip of the gnarled enchanted staff.

“Huginn…Muninn, fetch those eggs.” Magic energy rippled through his veins as tendrils of dark arts materialized into one singular tentacle as thick as a great oak. The baron brought it down on the dragon’s head and then again across the jaw, sending Lou Jitsu stumbling from his perch with an enraged shriek.

  
  
The baron’s servants dashed in through the opening, narrowly missing a set of gnashing teeth that nearly clipped Huginn’s wings. More tentacles came into existence, beating endlessly against the dragon’s hide with sharpened thorns like iron. Lou cleaved one of the vines in two with his claws, and swung his tail around with the force of a cyclone, but the Baron did not budge. “I’ve seen every single battle you have ever taken part in, demon…I know every trap, every trick-” he condensed his tentacle vines into one long lance and thrust it into Lou’s back leg, the scarred tissue around the armored scales giving way. With a loud wail, the drake’s hips buckled and he fell to the cave floor, blood seeping from the ancient reopened wound, “-every weakness.” The baron sneered.  
  
Lou Jitsu struggled anxiously to gain purchase on the floor, the newfound liquid reducing the traction of the eroded stone. His yellow eyes darted to the two fae who rifled through his so carefully placed moss and bedding, until finally Muninn rolled out the giant thick-shelled burgundy egg into the open air. Seeing the blackened hands of the corrupted faeries touching his little one made his instincts tear agonizingly inside his core. He spat and hissed, a tendril muzzling his mouth shut before he could release more dragon’s breath. The flame extinguished with smoke billowing from between his cheeks. Pain shot up through Lou’s spine like freezing ice needles as he struggled against Draxum’s multiplying bonds, the hoard encapsulating his being into the pit of darkness. Through the seams he watched as the three other eggs were rolled out and precariously juggled in the faes’ grasps. A pitiful and anxious groan vibrated his throat, directed to his children, even though he knew they were completely helpless in their shells. Draxum tightened his hand, squeezing the air out of Lou’s lungs, causing white spots to dance in his eyes. His eyes didn’t leave his children as the fae furiously fluttered their wings and steadily lifted them all in the air, out of the nest, away from their safe sanctum, away from him. 

  
“Master! We’ve got them all, and they’re really heavy!” Huginn strained, maintaining a death grip on the blue and purple eggs. 

  
Draxum flashed a triumphant grin, “Very good, return them to their rightful place in the Fold, while I finish punishing this rebellious reptile of ours.”

  
“Right away, Master!”  
  
“You got it, Boss!”

  
Lou craned his head around as they flew over them, being stopped by another tentacle which locked onto one of his horns and drove his head into the ground, pressing his scales into the pool of his own blood. In seconds, they had all disappeared through the cavern’s opening. His teeth grit together and he struggled…and struggled, tearing some of his ligaments but the baron just stood there, watching him writhe. 

  
“Look at you…” he squeezed tighter, “The ‘Great Lou Jitsu’, one of the most feared sights in the arena, the last of the dragons, and in minutes you’ve crumpled to my feet. Pathetic…” Lou’s movements grew weaker, but still he struggled.

Draxum sneered, bending down on one knee close to the dragon’s face. His face nearly brushed against his cheek as he gave the order, “Give up.” 

  
Lou Jitsu’s body went limp as it gave out, and only then did the vines encasing him loosen to open his airways. 

“…I almost feel sorry for your little brood. They say that an angry mother protecting their young is the most formidable opponent that Yor has to offer, but here you are, having failed at one of life’s most basic tasks. I can only hope that whatever sired those little monsters will make up for your incompetence.”  
  
Lou remained still, blood continuing to pool on the floor.

  
  
“Tch..” Baron Draxum rubbed his wrist, “Though given your tastes I can’t guarantee even that. I’ll have to make my own modifications.”

  
  
Lou’s golden eyes snapped open.

  
  
“The sooner…the better. Perhaps if I begin when I return to the Fold, while they’re still eggs, there may be a chance to salvage something great from such a monumental failure, perhaps create something even better!” The baron’s excitement was palpable in his voice. 

* * *

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* * *

The air was filled with the sound of loud flapping as Huginn and Muninn flew over the landscape.

  
  
“HA! That was far too easy, wouldn’t you say, eh Brother?”  
  
“Whew…speak for yourself brother, you’re not carrying the big one! But yes, I would most definitely agree!”  
  
“You got the smaller one, I’m carrying the two medium sized twins. I would say we’re balanced here.”  
  
“But it’s so HEAVY!”  
  
“Fine, if you’re going to keep whining we’ll switch off halfway to the Fold.”  
  
“Thank you, Brother. What makes you say they’ll be twins?”

“Eh…just a fae intuition.”  
  
“Do you think they’ll be cute after they hatch?”  
  
“Oooh maybe! Although most flying animals come out of the egg ugly and naked…”  
  
“They also have the best growth spurt! Look at us, handsome devils, for example.”  
  
“Fair point to you!”

  
  
They continued to fly in silence for a few minutes.

  
One of them gasped loudly, “Do you know what I just realized, Huginn?!”  
  
“What is it Muninn?!”  
  
“When they hatch, we could ride them like steeds! Get ‘em all tacked up and everything!”  
  
“I LOVE the way your mind works, brother! Imagine what the fae back home would say! Huginn and Muninn: DRAGON RIDERS!”

“We could teach them tricks!”  
  
“They could sit in our laps like loyal housecats!”  
  
“I’d give them my scraps at the dinner table!”  
  
“But, Muninn, we already get the table scraps.”  
  
“The babies will be below us in rank, Huginn, they’ll get the scraps of our scraps!”  
  
“AH, OF COURSE THEY WILL!”  
  
“Ooooh brother, I’m so excited!”  
  
“Me too, brother, my insides feel as though they’ll EXPLODE from excitement!”

  
  
A loud roaring BOOM rocked the air currents around them, sending the two spinning. As they regained stability, they looked back in the direction they came from to see a massive plume of fire and smoke the size of a goliath rise up and roll into the cloud above in a thick black haze. They winced as several square miles of hilly landscape collapsed, bowing to the site of the explosion.  
  
Huginn and Muninn looked to each other nervously, but like obedient dogs, they hurriedly flew to where they had left their master.

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Baron Draxum coughed heavily and stumbled to his feet, the heavy vines encircling him crumbling and turning to dust, some still hissing as they withered from the flames. His stable ground was the only platform left that had not been blown away. Eyes darting around, he eventually caught sight again of Lou Jitsu. The sorcerer slid down the powdered rumble, staff digging into the floor to keep him grounded. 

  
The dragon lay still on the ground, maw agape with hot multicolored ooze leaking out along with the blood. His body was no longer adorned with those delicately layered fluorescent scales. In fact, it looked as though they had all been ripped off his form, as if he’d been skinned like a fish. The flames had been so hot that most of his mane had burned away, leaving behind patches of crisped onyx here and there along his spine. His body vented heavily, wheezing gasps being dragged out of his lungs. Several limbs, including his wings were still burning with a prismatic array of colored flames that did not dance like an earthbound blaze. The baron stood there staring long and hard at those flames before a sinister chuckle burst from his mouth.

  
“Aaaah…the Hamato clan’s Divine Inferno, thought to have died out with the last elders. The ancient texts say that Yor pulled those flames from the sun and aurora and gave them to your people herself. I never thought I would get to see any form of it with my own eyes, so I thank you for the honor of witnessing such a waste of a valuable asset to you. Based on the senseless chaos that surrounds us, I’d surmise that you never knew the fullest extent of your own capabilities…” He leaned down and cupped Lou’s cracked chin, “Your lack of training destroyed your body with the blaze, and now you are useless to me and the Fold.” He let the dragon’s skull thud against the silt as ash rained down on them. “I will ensure that the hatchlings learn how to control their flames and learn from your ineptitude.” 

  
The baron treaded a few steps away from Lou, swiping his hands over his robe to dust it off. He looked up the crater wall, easily several stories tall, an easy feat for him once his vines recover. “Perhaps…” He turned his head, tracing his fingers over the head of his staff, “…I’ve been too mean-spirited in this exchange. After all, such a nugget of valuable wisdom you presented to me deserves compensation. I was honestly impressed by the power behind that Inferno, even if it did me no damage…hmmm…” He brought the staff to his chin, eyes glinting as he pondered to himself quietly. 

  
Lou’s swollen eye cracked open again, the bloodshot iris struggling to train on Draxum’s fuzzy form.

  
  
“Ah!” the baron snapped his finger, “That’s an idea!” He struck the ground, energy flowing into the soil, and from it more vines appeared and strung Lou’s devastated hide into the air. “You want your freedom so bad, Lou Jitsu? Congratulations! You’ve earned it! Although, this body is on its last legs. What kind of person would I be if I simply left you here to let your soul flicker away, hm?” 

  
Lou only coughed in reply, half-hazardly trying to keep his head aloft. 

  
“I’m not much of a healer…only good at pointing out the problems.” He prodded about the dragon’s body, “Broken. Broken. Twisted out of socket. Broken, broken, broken, ah this leg of yours is absolutely destroyed, there’s no saving that. This won’t do…this won’t do at all. You deserve something much more fitting to your…ever-fighting spirit.” 

  
He grasped his staff in both hands, pulling it close to his chest, he began to chant, “… ** _Dehs ton llahs lioc latrom siht, luos elgnis dna senob nekorb.._**.”

  
Lou’s breath hitched as he felt the vines dig into his body, an empty pit forming in his stomach as he felt dark power flow into his blood. 

  
“ **… _Daerd fo eno ot gnieb siht nrut, laog dipertni, senots deneprahs_ …”**

His skin hardened and greyed like stone. He let out a piercing roar at the sky as he felt his bones warp and his organs twist. 

  
“… ** _Dehs ton llahs lioc latrom siht, luos elgnis dna senob nekorb.._**.”

  
His body slowly petrified, the deadness creeping up his limbs towards his wings and finally his head.

  
“ **… _Daerd fo eno ot gnieb siht nrut, laog dipertni, senots deneprahs_ …”  
**

**  
** Lou Jitsu’s voice fizzled away as his face went still, the smooth slopes of his muzzle turning faceted and hard. The dragon’s body turned to solid stone, and without support it crumbled into pieces, the inside hollow. It cracked open like a chicken’s egg, a tiny glowing form slithering out, curled up in the green and purple ooze.

  
“ ** _…Luos nekorb dna ydob elgnis, llot ton llahs slleb htaeD…”_** the baron finished his chants, looking down in satisfied disgust at the grotesque form shifting below him. “There now…all finished. With this, you won’t have to fear walking amongst the human plague. In fact, no one with any sense will want anything to do with you… It’s a shame…but alas, you needed to be punished for going against Her wishes, and for betraying the citizens of the Fold. I think this is a fair trade, wouldn’t you say?” 

  
The thing at his feet coughed, spitting out goo and grime, limbs shaking.

  
  
Draxxum clapped his hands together in delight, “Well! I’d love to stay and chat, not really. I must be off. Ta-Ta for now, hopefully for eternity if we’re both lucky…” A tentacle dipped gently into the crater, which the baron strode upon as it lifted him to the lips of the hole. “I have to prep the Fold for the arrival of its newest war-”

  
  
“BOOOOSS!!!!”  
  
“MASTER!!!”

  
  
Draxum visibly deadpanned as his servants zipped towards him, “OH MASTER! Thank Yor you’re alive!”

  
“WE SAW THAT HUGE FIREBALL!”  
  
“-IT WAS LIKE ‘BOOOOM’!!”  
  
“-AND ‘FWWOOOOOSSSHHH!!”  
  
“We thought you’d perished, my lord!”  
  
“Huginn, we should’ve known he would be fine!”  
  
“Of course, Muninn, silly us, our master is the great Baron Draxum!”  
  
“He’s a hair shy of immortal!” They both sang together, bliss having overtaken them.

  
  
“ENOUGH!” Draxum bellowed, “Where are they?”

  
  
Muninn cocked his head to the side, “Where are what, master?”  
  
“Yes Master what is it?”

  
“The EGGS, you imbeciles! Where are the EGGS??!” He snarled at them, causing them to shrink down but still hover in the air. 

  
The two brothers looked down at their hands and then to each other puzzled. Sure enough, where there should have been eggs…there were no eggs. They started muttering in Sylvian amongst themselves, counting their fingers multiple times as they retraced their steps. Huginn’s antennae then perked up as he said cheerfully, “Oh! We dropped them!”

  
“YOU WHAT?!” Draxum was about to a blow a fuse, that much was certain to the two fae, but their mouths continued to run.

  
  
“Yeah we were flying and we dropped them on accident.”  
  
“BUT IT WASN’T OUR FAULT!”  
  
“No! No, it wasn’t!”  
  
“It was…i-it was…uh-“  
  
“The fireball!”  
  
“Yes, that’s it! That big ol’ fireball sent a giant shockwave that nearly had me going YEEP, sire!”  
  
“It knocked the eggs right out of my talons!”  
  
“So in a small sense-“  
  
“It’s entirely that dragon’s fault the eggs fell!”  
  
“YEP YEP, HIS FAULT NOT OURS!” The two finished with nervous but innocent smiles.

  
The sorcerer leaned over them, his glare seething. “The curse is irreversible…” After a few moments of silence, he asked calmly, “Do you know where they fell?”

  
Muninn stood before his brother, “Master, we were several hundred meters in the air, those eggs are surely a pile of a thousand shards and yolk, dragonborn or not.”

  
“Are you certain?” He tapped his staff against the ground.

  
“Yes, sir. We saw them.” Huginn spoke, the lie on his breath slipping by effortlessly.

The three were interrupted as a heartbroken sob broke out from the bottom of the crater. Draxum watched the waterfall of tears spill out of the creature’s eyes. “Well…fate is laced with cruel irony. Such a waste…but what’s done is done. If I can’t have those eggs…then no one gets them.” He began to walk away from the crater, “Huginn…Muninn, come, we’re done here.”

  
As the three disappeared from the crater’s edge, Lou Jitsu sobbed from his new body, his voice and anatomy foreign to him. He was cold, and wet from the ooze, and night was beginning to fall. He had lost everything in the span of a few short hours.  
  


His actions had killed his hatchlings.

  
  
His still golden eyes watched the moon rise and he wailed a loud scream.

  
  
He didn’t stop until his throat and lungs gave out.

  
  
Mother Yor had taken…  
  


* * *

* * *

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed the first installment of The Lost Clutch Chronicles!
> 
> Some key details about this AU:
> 
> All dragons are hermaphrodites in this story, it was the only way I saw how to recreate the family tree while keeping everyone mostly in character and without complicating things with extra throwaway characters. 
> 
> The series will ofc focus predominantly on our favorite little lost clutch
> 
> If anyone sounds out of character dialogue wise, all of the older generation characters have a more archaic way of speaking. 
> 
> Sorry if the story seems a little rushed in spots, (and a few editing hiccups here and there), I just wanna get to the dragon babies XD as I'm sure you all are as well XD
> 
> Bye for now!


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